Police say man tried to swallow fentanyl doses

Suspect has prior trafficking, prison history

By Nathan Kraatz - Civitas Media

WILMINGTON — Police arrested a Wilmington man Thursday night after they say he tried to swallow a bag containing 113 doses of fentanyl during a traffic stop.

Bradley Bennett, 29, “had them (the doses) on his person and during the traffic stop tried to put the entire bag in his mouth to get rid of them,” Wilmington Police Detective Scott Baker told the News Journal in Wilmington. “Patrol officers acted quickly and removed them from his mouth.”

Baker, who is also a member of the Greater Warren County Drug Task Force, said officers “kind of ultimately saved his life as those caps would have burst open in his stomach, causing him a severe overdose or death.”

Originally, police believed the caps were full of heroin, but Baker told the News Journal on Friday that, according to crime lab results, 113 of the caps were fentanyl and two were cocaine.

“We definitely would have had several overdoses and possible deaths if it made it to the street,” Baker said.

Fentanyl is a painkiller “similar to, but more potent than morphine,” according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. It’s commonly mixed with heroin to make it more powerful, often with deadly results.

Bennett was a passenger in a car that was pulled over for multiple alleged driving infractions. The driver and another passenger weren’t charged with possession, since Bennett allegedly had the heroin on him.

Bennett was released from prison last year after eight months for trafficking heroin, and he has a criminal history, including other drug trafficking charges, dating back to 2007.

Baker said Bennett may face a first-degree felony charge for trafficking, pending lab results, a crime Baker said comes with a mandatory five years’ imprisonment.